Sheet diaphragm for railway cars



Feb. 25, 1941. L. A. HANSEN 'SHEET DIAPHRAGM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug.2, 1940 INVENTOR: Larry fi mnsen,

/ ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 25, 1941 PATENT OFFICE SHEET DIAPHRAGM FOR RAILWAY CARSLarry A. Hansen, Philadelphia, Pa, assignor to The Pennsylvania RailroadCompany, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationAugust 2, 1940, Serial No. 349,443

Claims.

This invention has reference to flexible diaphragms for railway carpassageway connections and more particularly to the mounting of the sidediaphragm intermediate the ends of couple-d cars or between the ends ofsuch cars and relatively spaced face plates. A serious disadvantageinhering to prevailing sheet diaphragms isdue to the fact that the edgeholding or clamping means invariably conduces to tearing and breakingdown of the juncture, this objection being more pronounced when thediaphragm consists of sheet rubber with the vertical side edgesreinforced or enlarged to provide substantial holding means.

The primary object of this invention is to overcome the noteddisadvantage by provision of a novel holder means for the supportededges of sheet diaphragms which effectively prevent tearing and otherrupturing over long periods of time or extended usage.

Another object is to provide a holder means including a spacer rib whichwhen brought into diaphragm securing relation imposes a higher degree ofcompression on the edge reinforcement than upon the adjoining sheetwhereby the tensile strength of the latter part remains substantiallyconstant for the life of the rubber.

Other objects, with ancillary advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed explanation of the preferredembodiment thereof, typically illustrated by the accompanying sheet ofdrawings, wherein like reference characters designate correspondingparts P in all the views; while the concluding claims more particularlydefine the features of novelty over the prior art.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through one side of a typical car end andvestibule construction including the present improvements.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section, on a larger scale, lengthwise of the sheetdiaphragm and associated holding means; and,

r Fig. 3 is a similar enlarged scale section through the diaphragmbefore fixture between the adjoining ends of coupled cars.

In describing the form of this invention exemplified in the single sheetof drawingsherewith, specific terms will be employed for the sake ofclarity, but it is to be understood the scope of said invention is notthereby limited; each such term being intended to embrace allequivalents which perform the same function for an analogous purpose.

Referring more in detail to the drawing which illustrates the adaptationof this invention to arailway car vestibule diaphragm arrangement, suchas forms the subject-matter of a companion application filedconcurrently herewith under Serial No. 349,442, the railway car end iscom- 5 prehensively designated by the numeral 4, the same includingvestibule and corner posts 5, 6, respectively; while 1 is the inner faceplate and 8 the side wings hinged thereto at 9 in accordance with knownpractice, whereas III, II are the 1 inner and outer flexible diaphragms.

The means for influencing the wing 8 outwardly and constantly imposingtension of the diaphragm ll comprise springy leaf-members I2 rigidlysecured to the vestibule post outer flange I 3 by means l4, saidleaf-members having their outer ends pivotally attached at I5 toslidable shoes l6 carried by the wing 8, all in conformity with theabove identified companion application for patent.

In accordance with the instant improvements, the outer diaphragm II isconveniently of sheet rubber with the vertical side edges preferablyformed as rectangular-section substantial ribs I! which may bereinforced by a duck surrounding strip IB inserted during fabrication ofsaid ribs; and such ribs may also have a fillet juncture l9 as shown tobest advantage in Fig. 3. For attaching the diaphragm ll intermediatethe car body corner post 6 and the outer flanged edge of the opposingwing 8, use is made of special sections 2|. Each such section 2|embodies a web portion 22 with rectangularly related paralleling flanges23, 24 and 25, the two former 23, 24 being of equal size, whereas thelatter 25 is outwardly bent to define a flanking lip 26 in a planeparalleling the outer edges of the flanges 23, 24 for a purpose laterexplained. In addition, the web portion 22 of each section 2|intermediate the flanges 23, 24 is provided with spaced holes 21 forpassage of clamp bolts 28, fitted with lock-washers 29 and nuts 30,whereby the sections 2| are rigidly attached to longitudinal projections3| from the corner post 6 and the opposing flange edge 20 integral withthe wing outer vertical edges. It is also to be observed thecross-section of the diaphragm ribs I1 is of a depth relatively greaterthan that of the special section flanges 23, 24, and the plane of thesection lip 26, determined so that when the clamp bolts 28 aretightened-up a definite degree of compression is imposed evenlylengthwise of the diaphragm ribs I! with a substantially less degree ofcompression similarly lengthwise of the diaphragm adjoining the filletl9, while the section flanges 23, 24 being of equal depth positivelyprevent any rocking or other movement of the sections 2| relative to theparts to which they are clamped.

From the foregoing the merits and advantages of this invention will beclearly understood, while it will be apparent that changes in the shapeand relative proportions of the parts of the sections 2| may be variedwithout departure from the spirit and scope of said invention as definedin the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In vestibule construction for mobile cars having projecting endflanges and spacially-related wings with angled edge flanges, thecombination of a flexible sheet diaphragm having the car end and Wingadjoining edges formed as substantial ribs; 2. special section attachedto each car end projecting flange and the confronting wing flange, suchsection including adjoining grooves defined by a web portion with spacedouter and an intermediate flanges; one of said grooves serving toreceive an edge rib of the diaphragm and having its outer flange bent toprovide a lip for cooperation with the diaphragm body, and saidintermediate flange with the other outer flange positively securing saidsection against rocking movement with respect to the car end or wingflange, and means associated with the other groove for attaching thespecial section to the aforesaid car end flange and the wing flange.

2. In vestibule construction for railway cars including corner postswith longitudinally projecting end flanges, and spacially related wingshaving the outer vertical edge portions flanged toward the car end; thecombination of a flexible sheet outer diaphragm having the car end andwing adjoining edges embodying substantial ribs of rectangularcross-section; means in the form of special sections attached to the carcorner post flanges and wing edge flanges, each such section embodying aweb portion with outer and an intermediate flanges jointly definingparallel grooves; one of the grooves being cooperative with the cornerpost flange or a wing flange and of a depth to receive a rib edge of thediaphragm, said groove having .its outer flange longitudinally bent toform a lip for similar coaction with the diaphragm body portionadjoining said rib, the intermediate flange being effective topositively prevent rocking movement of the section; and means,associated with the other groove, for attaching the special section tothe aforesaid car end flange, or to the confronting wing flange, withconcurrent clamping compression of the diaphragm rib and adjoining bodyportion.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein the special section flangesdefining the groove for the attaching means, and the lipped one, arerespectively of differential depth relative to the diaphragm rib and thebody portion so as to impart contrasting degrees of compression on saidrib and its adjoining body portion when se cured to the car end or wingflanges.

4. The combination of claim 2, wherein each special section embodies aweb portion with rectangularly related paralleling outer flanges and anintervening flange, one of the outer flanges and said intervening flangebeing of equal depth to define spaced edges for grip coaction with acorner post flange or a wing flange to prevent relative movement, andspaced holes lengthwise of the section web intermediate the secondmentioned flanges for passage of suitable clamping means.

5. As anew article of manufacture, an attaching section, for flexiblesheet railway car vestibule diaphragms, embodying parallel channelsdefined by spaced outer flanges and an inner flange, one of the outerflanges and said inner flange being of equal depth with the free edgesin a common plane, spaced holes in the Web portion between said equaldepth flanges for passage of securing means, and the other outer flangebeing longitudinally bent to define a lateral lip in spacial parallelisminwardly with respect to the common plane edges of the first mentionedouter and inner flanges.

LARRY A. HANSEN.

